Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer

The Department of Health's updated cancer plan Improving Outcomes: a strategy for cancer published in January 2011, outlines a strategy to improve the outcomes for patients with cancer. The ambition to become the country with the best outcomes in Europe is a undoubtedly good, but the challenge is how to do this within the current economic constraints and the drive for "efficiency" improvements over the next 3 years. What are the the most important tactics to achieve earlier diagnosis, quick access to diagnostic tests and prompt referral to a specialist? How will the cancer drugs fund work? How will emerging GP consortia decide how to commission the best cancer services? Is the Department of Health's new TV and YouTube advertising campaign about the symptoms of bowel cancer going to help? Join Professor Sir Mike Richards National Cancer Director and Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of Royal College of General Practitioners as they outline their views and answer your questions.

Do you sometimes feel swamped by too much information which is out of date? Then register now for an HSJ webinar looking at how selected, timely information can help organisations improve services to patients and improve efficiency.

One year after the Health and Social Care Act became law what has been the impact of the new competition framework – and how can NHS organisations comply with the law while also pursuing their aim of providing high quality care in a way which is both affordable and sustainable?

This free webinar, in association with specialist healthcare law firm Hempsons, will look at the key issues for NHS and foundation trusts, and how they can comply with the law while still achieving their aims of creating sustainable and financially sound organisations.

It will look at options trusts could consider such as provider collaborations, hospital chains and mergers, as well as the need to comply with competition law and the provider licence competition conditions.

It will consider the role of commissioners in service and organisational change, and how organisations can best engage with Monitor and the Competition and Markets Authority, which will replace the OFT and Competition Commission on April 1. Viewers will get the chance to pose questions to our expert panel.

Register now to ensure you are up to date on this crucial topic for acute, community and mental health trusts.

Where: online
When: 26th March 2014
Duration: 45 minutes
Cost: FREE

On the panel

Chair Dame Gill Morgan, chair of the Foundation Trust Network

Ralph Coulbeck, director of strategy at the NHS Trust Development Authority

Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Nuffield Trust

Christian Dingwall, partner and head of corporate commercial at Hempsons

This webinar will be essential viewing for chief executives and senior managers: make sure you register now.

We look forward to welcoming you to HSJ TV.

Can’t make it at this time? Don’t worry, you can catch up on demand after the event by registering with HSJ TV.

HSJ is holding a free webinar on Wednesday February 5 at 12.30pm when an expert panel will discuss what the controversial section 75 procurement regulations have meant for the NHS and its providers.

This webinar, sponsored by law firm DWF, will consider whether commissioners’ behaviours have changed since the regulations came into force in April, and how providers from both the NHS and independent sector can respond. It will also look at other aspects of competition within the NHS and the changing landscape these developments present for providers and also for commissioners.

When: Wednesday February 5, 12.30pm

Duration: 45 minutes

Cost: FREE

Register now to watch this free webinar, in association with DWF.

On the panel

Chair: Matt Tee, chief operating officer of the NHS Confederation

Jan Filochowski, former chief executive of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Trust and West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust

Clinical decision support (CDS) is now recognised as a key element of health informatics strategy in both acute and primary care, refocusing hospital IT from being a mere replacement for paper processes, to point-of-care systems that can support clinicians to improve patient safety.

HSJ invites you to view and participate in a free webinar, run in association with UpToDate, and find out how this easily implimented technology can improve patient safety, resulting in fewer prescribing errors, reduced diagnostic testing, reduced stays and improved hospital quality.

Where: Your computer
When: Wednesday December 10th, 12.00pm
Duration: 45 minutes
Ensure you are up to speed with the latest developments.

While a doctor or researcher might consider the best drug to be one which offers a 100 per cent certainty of cure, can the same be said of the patient? With Patient Recorded Outcome Measures (PROMs) and patient experience ever more important ways of measuring the quality of care, it could be argued that pharmaceutical firms will need to increasingly focus on drugs which improve the patient’s life rather while attempting to cure their condition.

This HSJ webinar, run in association with Norgine, will explore the complex issue of balancing clinical efficacy of treatments with quality of life for patients. They are issues which might be considered particularly pertinent when it comes to cancer treatments. Researchers continue to search for a cure, but were that cure to involve unpleasant side effects – as chemotherapy and radiotherapy often currently do – would patients want it? Would they prefer a treatment which offered an 80 per cent certainty of cure but involved no side effects at all?

Specific areas for discussion will include:
• How can we decide where the balance should lie between clinical efficacy and quality of life?
• How can we ensure that patients are sufficiently involved in the development of medications,
and in health research and development more generally?
• Will Academic Health Science Centres and Networks make a difference in this area?

The first ever NHS Mandate, published in November 2012, stated that there should be “parity of esteem” between physical and mental healthcare. NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are now formally charged with eliminating the longstanding inequalities between physical and mental healthcare.

It will not be a straightforward task. Those with a mental health condition can currently expect to live for a significantly shorter period than average. Formal diagnosis and treatment is often difficult to secure and, where treatment is provided, it is not always that which the evidence suggests would be most effective.

This HSJ webinar, run in association with Partnerships in Care, will explore the longstanding challenges and the possible solutions. A leading panel will discuss issues including:

• How can true parity of esteem for mental health be achieved?
• What are the barriers to closing the esteem gap, where everyone who needs it, has timely access to evidence based mental health services?
• What do provider trusts, community trusts, CCGs and the third sector need to do to create parity of esteem between mental and physical healthcare?
• To what extent is this truly being treated as a priority across the NHS?

NHS regulation now has teeth. What does this mean? How prepared would you be if the CQC came knocking at your door with an enforcement intervention? What are you doing to prevent it?

This free webinar, in association with Ridouts LLP, will explore what senior NHS managers can do to prevent that enforcement intervention by driving up their internal QA, focusing on complaints and working in partnership with the CQC.

Confirmed speakers:
•Alex Baylis, Head of Better Regulation at the CQC
•Matt Tee, Chief Operating Officer at NHS Confederation
•Jan Filochowski, one of the UK’s most respected and experienced NHS chief executives, is currently CEO of Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He is the author of “Too Good To Fail. How managers get it wrong and how you can get it right”
•Paul Ridout, Partner, Ridouts LLP. Paul has worked through the whole of the last 40 years of changes and developments in what is now the health and social care sector. Paul has a unique knowledge from previous experience of how regulation has changed and how public funding of health and social care has been refined over those 40 years.
•Neil Grant, Partner, Ridouts LLP. Neil national reputation in the field of regulatory compliance and risk management relating to health and social care providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors

The webinar can be viewed by registered users of the HSJ website by visiting www.hsj.co.uk/hsj-tv. Once it has been streamed, it will be archived and available on the site for a year.
Register now - we would be delighted if you could join us.

HSJ has the pleasure in inviting you to join a free webinar, sponsored by Interserve, to explore how redesigning patient pathways will impact on the NHS estate – and how NHS organisations can best manage this.

The pressure is on to redesign the way care is delivered, whether at home, at hospital or in an intermediary environment. Such changes will profoundly affect the way the NHS uses its estates. Join this webinar to hear our expert speakers consider how estates and facilities management can support patient pathway redesign and help NHS organisations make the best use of the estate.

It will explore:
•Taking a county-wide approach
•Working with care providers and partners
•Joining up services to make the best use of the estate

HSJ invites you to register to view and participate in a free webinar to explore the patient safety benefits of clinical decision support

The Francis Report has sharpened the focus on patient safety. There is a body of evidence to demonstrate that using information technology to provide clinicians with real time access to the most up-to-date evidence, guidance and protocols can significantly improve patient safety. This evidence base is international, coming from the US, Asia and Europe. So far, the NHS experience with CDS is under researched; yet never has there been a more pressing case to roll them out quickly.

This HSJ webinar, sponsored by UpToDate, brings together an international panel of medical experts to offer their perspectives and answer your questions.

Key elements will include:
•What is the evidence for clinical decision support improving patient safety?
•Where in hospitals does it show greatest benefits?
•How well accepted and understood is the evidence base?
•What is the demand from clinicians for CDS?
•Is there a one-size-fits-all solution available?
•Do you need an electronic patient record to reap the benefits from CDS?

Right patient, right treatment, right price: the challenges of introducing new medicines to the NHS

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) regularly reviews new drugs which may benefit patients. When it issues guidance recommending a specific treatment, the NHS is required to provide funding for it within three months. Yet the implementation and adoption of new medications is often slow, primarily due to the complexities of discussions between clinicians and commissioners.

With clinical needs having to be balanced with ever-tighter budgets - and the responsibility for commissioning moving to clinical leads at CCGs - those conversations are liable to become even more complex in the next 12 months.

This HSJ webinar, organised and funded by AstraZeneca, will bring together Dr Anthony Brzezicki, GP and chair of Croydon clinical commissioning group and Dr Joseph Mills, Consultant Cardiologist, Liverpool, to consider these challenging issues. The debate will draw on the specific example of ticagrelor, approved by the European Commission in late 2010 and recommended by NICE a year later, with varied use across the UK.

Key elements of the webinar will include:
*How should commissioners and clinicians plan for the implementation of a new medicine?
*When should planning for a new medicine begin?
*What evidence do commissioners and clinicians need when they are considering a new medicine?
*Have the changes in NHS commissioning had an impact on the planning for new medicines?
*How is the commissioning of primary and secondary preventative strategies balanced?
*How can cost effectiveness be balanced with clinical need?

HSJ invites you to watch an exclusive webinar, in association with UpToDate, highlighting the benefits of using CDS (Clinical Decision Support) technology in medical training, CME and revalidation for Trusts.

The webinar will examine research findings and offer practical recommendations for maximizing the educational and training benefits of CDS in hospitals.

Chaired by HSJ, panelists include Sarah Sutton, Clinical Librarian, University Hospital of Leicester and CDS Experts from UpToDate

Key elements of the webinar will include:

Published research which proves CDS plays an important role in training and continuing education

Recommendations for ensuring CDS is used in training and education by trainees and clinicians

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust case study on how clinicians have used UpToDate for pain-free CPD

Essential viewing for Clinical Directors, Medical Directors, Medical Librarians, Training and Education Managers and Healthcare IT Managers, make sure you register to watch it today.

HSJ invites you to participate in an interactive webcast on the challenges and benefits of introducing OFSTED-style ratings to the NHS.

(Please be aware that for some viewers time may show up as 4.30am, this is an issue we are working on, THE CORRECT TIME IS 12.30PM)

The Nuffield Trust has been commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health to consider whether aggregate ratings of provider performance should be used in health and social care. This webinar will discuss emerging evidence, challenges/benefits and diverse views from heath, social care and beyond around introducing aggregated ratings to the NHS and social care. The final Nuffield report will be presented to the Secretary of State in March 2013.

Achieving better care at lower cost is the 'sweet spot' for managers trying to deliver their QIPP programmes.

But doing this requires the active involvement of clinicians and an appreciation of some of the challenges they face in their working lives.

With the ever-growing volume of medical research and guidance it can be hard for even the most senior doctors to stay on top of their specialism and take every possible factor into account. And for juniors it can be more than a little daunting - especially when senior staff are thin on the ground, such as at night.

Offering them support in providing appropriate and safe care is a priority for many trusts - and software designed to help them in deciding on diagnosis and best treatment is one way to do it.
There is a growing body of evidence that this can reduce unnecessary tests, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and can avoid harm to patients.

This free HSJ webinar will look at the impact clinical decision support software can have in hospitals, featuring real-world examples and cases

It will cover:

How decision support software can support trusts in delivering some of their QIPP goals through better and more timely care

The evidence case for using clinical decision support software in clinical practice and how it can contribute to reducing unnecessary diagnostic tests, help clinicians deliver the right care, first time, and lead to reduced lengths of stay

The role it can play in helping doctors – especially juniors - ‘on the ground’

How doctors in the North West have seen positive outcomes from using support software

How to build a business case for investment in clinical support software

HSJ invites you to view an exclusive webinar on innovation and knowledge sharing in the NHS, supported by NHS North West.

There is never a shortage of ideas on how to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the NHS. Each year, individuals from both inside and outside the service come up with ways that healthcare providers could provide better care. Some of those ideas will get implemented in one department or ward. A few may get introduced throughout a hospital or trust. Very few will spread any further.

Why is innovation and best practice slow to spread in the NHS? How can knowledge gained in one department be shared with another, and then with other departments in other organisations? Might it then be possible to share knowledge with colleagues in other countries?

This HSJ webinar, supported by NHS North West, will bring together an expert panel drawn from both industry and healthcare to debate these issues.

No one in the health service expects hospitals to look the same in 10 years time. The challenges of improving productivity and quality, while also saving money, would be enough to prompt massive change in the sector.

But the demands of commissioners who want to see more services moved closer to home and growing evidence to back centralisation of some services mean that this change is likely to be even more significant.

This HSJ webinar will look at how some hospital trusts have started to transform themselves to cope with this, and ask what else needs to be done. It will be essential viewing for chief executives and board members who are keen to learn from the experiences of other trusts.

Some of the key elements of the webinar will include:

Hearing from trusts which have started to transform the way they deliver services

Examining some of the major challenges hospitals will face

Getting the views of experts on what needs to be done and where the good examples are.

HSJ invites you to view and participate in an exclusive webinar on the growing importance of clinical decision support systems in association with UpToDate.

Quality, cost and the rise in long term conditions are forcing all healthcare providers around the world to reassess how services can be delivered more efficiently and effectively. Most have concluded that whilst technology is not the only answer, it is invariably part of the solution.

One key area is becoming increasingly clear – clinical support systems. Whilst healthcare provision has always striven to deliver the right care at the right time, it is now more crucial than ever that the clinical decision making process results in the best outcome for the patient in the shortest possible timescale.

In addition, recent changes to the regulatory environment (such as non-payment for patient readmission within 30 days of treatment) look set to increase the pressure even further.

Some of the key questions our webinar will explore include:
- The economic impact of adopting clinical decision support systems.

HSJ invites you to view and participate in an exclusive “Innovations in Healthcare” webinar, in association with the Healthcare Advisory Forum and sponsored by Oracle.

Quality, cost and the rise in long term conditions are forcing all health and care providers around the world to reassess how services can be delivered more efficiently and to consistently higher standards. Most have concluded that whilst technology is not the only answer, it is invariably part of the solution.

The NHS faces additional cost pressures – the “Nicholson Challenge” to find £20bn of savings over the next four years. Many believe this can be achieved only by “reimagining the front door” to healthcare and enabling patient involvement and decision-making.

Some of the key questions our debate will explore include:

•The existing system – where are we now, how did we get here, and what are the challenges as we move forwards?
•Can technology contribute to the greater integration of healthcare services? What are the potential gains and challenges?
•How can IT-enabled care support patient empowerment and allow patients to take control of their own care?
• How are assistive technologies being used at the moment and what would be the best-case scenario?
• In what ways can the health service use technology to transform the management of long-term conditions?
• What are the budget implications to all of this? Can innovation be ignored as a game changer?

Healthcare organisations are entering a new era where financial pressures and new operational models need to be balanced with the need to provide quality care.
How can organisations best manage as the changes outlined in the Health Bill come into force and they need to protect services whilst striving to meet its challenging targets?

Making efficient use of existing resources - whether those are staff or expensive facilities and equipment - will be crucial for organisations, whether NHS or independent, in this new, more commercial environment which will demand a flexible response to an unpredictable future.

Effective use of the workforce can significantly help all healthcare organisations to rise to the challenge; to deliver improved productivity and higher quality services in an increasingly competitive environment.

Planning how you deploy your workforce - and making certain you have staff with the right skills - is essential to meet the financial challenges within the healthcare sector and deliver patient centred care.

Workforce planning has traditionally been seen as the role of human resources; however this is changing. Understanding the importance of planning the workforce to deliver service for today’s requirements and for the future is essential whether you are in a service, clinical, financial or planning role.

Training your workforce for the future – how best to manage your resources whilst training budgets are being sliced and deal with the restrictions on the length of the working week

This webinar will look at how you can plan and deploy the workforce you need.

Pathology services are set to transform over the next few years - but what shape will they take and what practical problems will organisations encounter?

A recent HSJ round table debate delved into the maelstrom of issues organisations will face as they try to bring about change. These included

getting the right workforce in place to deliver the services needed
how to retain the crucial input of pathologists into clinical care, while reducing costs through economics of scale for the basic processing tasks
the challenges of providing pathology services for different customers with different needs such as GPs and acute trusts
working with commercial partners so that everyone benefits
how quality can be defined, measured and ensured.
Now an HSJ online question and answer sessions, in association with Roche Diagnostics, will enable you to put your questions to a panel of experts.